1930 English cricket season

The 1930 English cricket season will always be remembered for the remarkable batting performances of Australia'sDon Bradman. It was the 33rd test series between the two sides with Australia winning 2-1.[1]

England lost the Ashes to Australia by 2-1 with two matches drawn. Australia needed to win the final Test at The Oval to win the series and regain the Ashes, and did so by an innings in a match that went into the sixth day (as the series was in doubt, it was to be played to a finish). Don Bradman, with 974 runs in the series (unequalled in all Test cricket), was the main difference between two strong teams. Clarrie Grimmett took 29 wickets in the series, though - oddly - ten of those were in the only Test that Australia lost (the first).

1.
Australian cricket team
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The Australia national cricket team, represents the country of Australia in international cricket. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, having played in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team draws its players from teams playing in the Australian domestic competitions – the Sheffield Shield, the Australian domestic limited-overs cricket tournament and the Big Bash League. The national team has played 801 Test matches, winning 377, losing 215, drawing 207, Australia is ranked the number-one team overall in Test cricket in terms of overall wins, win-loss ratio and wins percentage. As of 29 March 2017, Australia is ranked third in the ICC Test Championship on 108 rating points, the Australian cricket team has played 898 ODI matches, winning 554, losing 303, tying 9 and with 32 ending in no-result. They currently lead the ICC ODI Championship, having done so for 130 of 161 months since its introduction in 2002. Australia have made a record seven World Cup final appearances and have won the World Cup a record five times in total,1987,1999,2003,2007 and 2015 and it is also the second team to win a World Cup on home soil, after India. The team was undefeated in 34 consecutive World Cup matches until 19 March at the 2011 Cricket World Cup where Pakistan beat them by 4 wickets. Australia have also won the ICC Champions Trophy twice – in 2006 and in 2009 – making them the first and the only team to become back to back winners in the Champions Trophy tournaments. Test cricket, which occurred between Australia and England at the time, was limited by the long distance between the two countries, which would take several months by sea. Most cricketers at the time were either from New South Wales or Victoria, with the exception of George Giffen. A highlight of Australias early history was the 1882 Test match against England at The Oval, in this match Fred Spofforth took 7/44 in the games fourth innings to save the match by preventing England from making their 85-run target. This was the start of the famous Ashes series in which Australia, to this day, the contest is one of the fiercest rivalries in sport. It participated in between the 1897–98 English tour of Australia and the 1910–11 South African tour of Australia, Victor Trumper became one of Australias first sporting heroes, and was widely considered Australias greatest batsman before Bradman and one of the most popular players. He played a number of Tests at 49 and scored 3163 runs at a high for the time average of 39.04. His early death in 1915 at the age of 37 from kidney disease caused national mourning, the Wisden Cricketers Almanack, in its obituary for him, called him Australias greatest batsman, Of all the great Australian batsmen Victor Trumper was by general consent the best and most brilliant. Led by Peter McAlister, who was attempting to gain control of tours from the players. This led to six leading players walking out on the 1912 Triangular Tournament in England and this was the last series before the war, and no more cricket was played by Australia for eight years, with Tibby Cotter being killed in Palestine during the war. Test cricket resumed in the 1920/21 season in Australia with a touring English team, captained by Johnny Douglas losing all five Tests to Australia, the team continued its success on the 1921 Tour of England, winning three out of the five Tests in Warwick Armstrongs last series

2.
Don Bradman
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Sir Donald George Don Bradman, AC, often referred to as The Don, was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradmans career Test batting average of 99.94 is often cited as the greatest achievement by any sportsman in any major sport, the story that the young Bradman practised alone with a cricket stump and a golf ball is part of Australian folklore. Bradmans meteoric rise from bush cricket to the Australian Test team took just over two years, before his 22nd birthday, he had set many records for top scoring, some of which still stand, and became Australias sporting idol at the height of the Great Depression. During a 20-year playing career, Bradman consistently scored at a level that made him, in the words of former Australia captain Bill Woodfull, a controversial set of tactics, known as Bodyline, was specifically devised by the England team to curb his scoring. As a captain and administrator, Bradman was committed to attacking, entertaining cricket and he hated the constant adulation, however, and it affected how he dealt with others. The focus of attention on his individual performances strained relationships with some team-mates, administrators and journalists, following an enforced hiatus due to the Second World War, he made a dramatic comeback, captaining an Australian team known as The Invincibles on a record-breaking unbeaten tour of England. Bradmans image has appeared on stamps and coins, and a museum dedicated to his life was opened while he was still living. Donald George Bradman was the youngest son of George and Emily Bradman and he had a brother, Victor, and three sisters—Islet, Lilian and Elizabeth May. One of his great-grandfathers was one of the first Italians to migrate to Australia in 1826, Bradmans parents lived in the hamlet of Yeo Yeo, near Stockinbingal. His mother Emily gave birth to him at the Cootamundra home of Granny Scholz and that house is now the Bradman Birthplace Museum. Bradman practised batting incessantly during his youth and he invented his own solo cricket game, using a cricket stump for a bat, and a golf ball. A water tank, mounted on a curved brick stand, stood on an area behind the family home. When hit into the brick facing of the stand, the ball rebounded at high speed. This form of practice developed his timing and reactions to a high degree, in more formal cricket, he hit his first century at the age of 12, with an undefeated 115 playing for Bowral Public School against Mittagong High School. In 1920–21, Bradman acted as scorer for the local Bowral team, in October 1920, he filled in when the team was one man short, scoring 37 not out and 29 not out on debut. During the season, Bradmans father took him to the Sydney Cricket Ground to watch the fifth Ashes Test match, on that day, Bradman formed an ambition. I shall never be satisfied, he told his father, until I play on this ground, Bradman left school in 1922 and went to work for a local real estate agent who encouraged his sporting pursuits by giving him time off when necessary. He gave up cricket in favour of tennis for two years, but resumed playing cricket in 1925–26, Bradman became a regular selection for the Bowral team, several outstanding performances earned him the attention of the Sydney daily press

3.
Lancashire County Cricket Club
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Lancashire County Cricket Club, one of eighteen first-class county clubs in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales, represents the historic county of Lancashire. The clubs limited overs team is called Lancashire Lightning, when the County Championship was officially founded in December 1889, Lancashire was one of eight clubs to feature in the competition’s first season in 1890. In 1895, Archie MacLaren scored 424 in an innings for Lancashire, Lancashire won their first two County Championship titles in 1897 and 1904. Between 1926 and 1934, Lancashire won the County Championship five times, in 1950, they shared the title with Surrey. Cyril Washbrook became Lancashire’s first professional captain in 1954, Lancashire next won the County Championship in 2011, a gap of 77 years. Johnny Briggs, whose career lasted from 1879 to 1900, was the first player to score 10,000 runs, Ernest Tyldesley, younger brother of Johnny Tyldesley, is the club’s leading run-scorer with 34,222 runs in 573 matches for Lancashire between 1909 and 1936. Fast bowler Brian Statham took a club record 1,816 wickets in 430 first-class matches between 1950 and 1968, Lancashire won the Benson and Hedges Cup in 1984, three times between 1990 and 1996, and the Sunday League in 1989,1998 and 1999. The County Championship was restructured in 2000 with Lancashire in the first division, since then they have been relegated three times, and each time were promoted the following season. On 23–25 July 1849, the Sheffield and Manchester clubs played each other at Hyde Park in Sheffield and it was the first match to involve a team using Lancashire as its name and is generally reckoned to have been the first Roses Match. Teams called Yorkshire, though based on the Sheffield club, had been active since 1833, the Roses Match is one of crickets oldest and most famous rivalries. In 1857, the Manchester club moved to Old Trafford, which has been the home of Lancashire cricket ever since, the club was committed to playing matches in different parts of the county to introduce. Cricket into every part of Lancashire, the early Lancashire side was reliant upon amateurs, which led to problems, although they were happy to play at Old Trafford, they were less willing to travel to away fixtures. During the early 1870s, the team was dominated by Monkey Hornby’s batting, the team’s standard of cricket improved with the arrival of two professional players, Dick Barlow and Alex Watson. The impact of Barlow and Hornby was such that their partnership was immortalised in the poem At Lord’s by Francis Thompson. The team was further enhanced by A. G. Steel – an amateur considered second only to W. G, as Lancashire’s consistency improved, so did their support, in 1878,28,000 over three days watched Lancashire play Gloucestershire. The club’s first success came in 1879, when the majority of the cricket press – except for Wisden – agreed that Lancashire and Nottinghamshire were joint champions, Lancashire was the champion county in 1881 and again shared the title with Nottinghamshire in 1882. Dick Barlow carried his bat for just 5 not out in Lancashire’s total of 69 in two and a half hours against Nottinghamshire on a treacherous, rain-affected Trent Bridge pitch in July 1882. Barlow and his opening partner Hornby are the opening batsmen immortalised in the famous poem by Francis Thompson

4.
County Championship
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The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. The competition consists of eighteen clubs named after, and originally representing, historic counties, seventeen from England, from 2016, the Championship will be sponsored by Specsavers, who replaced Liverpool Victoria after 14 years. In contrast, the term County Champions applies in common parlance to a team that has won the title since 1890. The most usual means of claiming the title was by popular or press acclaim. In the majority of cases, the claim or proclamation was retrospective, the unofficial title was not proclaimed in every season up to 1889 because in many cases there were not enough matches or there was simply no clear candidate. The concept of the title has been utilised ad hoc. The official County Championship was constituted in a meeting at Lords Cricket Ground on 10 December 1889 which was called to enable club secretaries to determine the 1890 fixtures. While this was going on, representatives of the eight leading county clubs held a meeting to discuss the method by which the county championship should in future be decided. A majority were in favour of ignoring drawn games altogether and settling the championship by wins, under this system defeats were subtracted from victories and the county with the highest total were champions. The new competition, which had official sanction, began in the 1890 season and at first featured Gloucestershire, Kent, Lancashire, Middlesex, Nottinghamshire, Surrey, Sussex and it is difficult to know when the concept of a county championship originated. While early matches were often between teams named after counties, they were not the teams the usage would imply today. That may be so re the actual terminology but closer examination of the sources indicate a much earlier expression of the idea. The earliest known inter-county match was in 1709 between Kent and Surrey but match results are unknown until the 1720s. The first time a source refers to the superiority of one county is in respect of a match between Edwin Steads XI and Sir William Gages XI at Penshurst Park in August 1728, Steads XI won by an unknown margin although Gages XI needed just 7 in their second innings. The source says that the game could be called Kent v Sussex as the players were reported as 11 of each county, Sir William Gage was a Sussex landowner and Edwin Stead was a resident of Maidstone in Kent. Evidently Mr Steads Kent team also won two games earlier that season against the Duke of Richmonds XI, the source states that was the third time this summer that the Kent men have been too expert for those of Sussex. This clearly implies that Kent was considered to be the county at that time. In 1729, Sir William Gages Sussex team defeated Kent on 5 September, The latter got in one hand and this may have been the earliest known innings victory

5.
Lancashire CCC
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Lancashire County Cricket Club, one of eighteen first-class county clubs in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales, represents the historic county of Lancashire. The clubs limited overs team is called Lancashire Lightning, when the County Championship was officially founded in December 1889, Lancashire was one of eight clubs to feature in the competition’s first season in 1890. In 1895, Archie MacLaren scored 424 in an innings for Lancashire, Lancashire won their first two County Championship titles in 1897 and 1904. Between 1926 and 1934, Lancashire won the County Championship five times, in 1950, they shared the title with Surrey. Cyril Washbrook became Lancashire’s first professional captain in 1954, Lancashire next won the County Championship in 2011, a gap of 77 years. Johnny Briggs, whose career lasted from 1879 to 1900, was the first player to score 10,000 runs, Ernest Tyldesley, younger brother of Johnny Tyldesley, is the club’s leading run-scorer with 34,222 runs in 573 matches for Lancashire between 1909 and 1936. Fast bowler Brian Statham took a club record 1,816 wickets in 430 first-class matches between 1950 and 1968, Lancashire won the Benson and Hedges Cup in 1984, three times between 1990 and 1996, and the Sunday League in 1989,1998 and 1999. The County Championship was restructured in 2000 with Lancashire in the first division, since then they have been relegated three times, and each time were promoted the following season. On 23–25 July 1849, the Sheffield and Manchester clubs played each other at Hyde Park in Sheffield and it was the first match to involve a team using Lancashire as its name and is generally reckoned to have been the first Roses Match. Teams called Yorkshire, though based on the Sheffield club, had been active since 1833, the Roses Match is one of crickets oldest and most famous rivalries. In 1857, the Manchester club moved to Old Trafford, which has been the home of Lancashire cricket ever since, the club was committed to playing matches in different parts of the county to introduce. Cricket into every part of Lancashire, the early Lancashire side was reliant upon amateurs, which led to problems, although they were happy to play at Old Trafford, they were less willing to travel to away fixtures. During the early 1870s, the team was dominated by Monkey Hornby’s batting, the team’s standard of cricket improved with the arrival of two professional players, Dick Barlow and Alex Watson. The impact of Barlow and Hornby was such that their partnership was immortalised in the poem At Lord’s by Francis Thompson. The team was further enhanced by A. G. Steel – an amateur considered second only to W. G, as Lancashire’s consistency improved, so did their support, in 1878,28,000 over three days watched Lancashire play Gloucestershire. The club’s first success came in 1879, when the majority of the cricket press – except for Wisden – agreed that Lancashire and Nottinghamshire were joint champions, Lancashire was the champion county in 1881 and again shared the title with Nottinghamshire in 1882. Dick Barlow carried his bat for just 5 not out in Lancashire’s total of 69 in two and a half hours against Nottinghamshire on a treacherous, rain-affected Trent Bridge pitch in July 1882. Barlow and his opening partner Hornby are the opening batsmen immortalised in the famous poem by Francis Thompson

6.
Durham CCC
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Durham County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the county of Durham. Since the 2014 season the Twenty20 team has called the Durham Jets. Founded in 1882, Durham held minor status for over a century and was a prominent member of the Minor Counties Championship, in 1992, the club joined the County Championship and the team was elevated to senior status as an official first-class team. Durham has been classified as an occasional List A team from 1964, then as a full List A team from 1992, Durham CCC competes in the Specsavers County Championship, the Royal London One-Day Cup and in the North Group of the NatWest t20 Blast. They won the County Championship in 2008 for the first time, retained the trophy in the 2009 season, in one-day competition, they won the 40-over Friends Provident Trophy in 2007 and the inaugural 50-over Royal London One-Day Cup in 2014. The clubs limited overs kit colours are yellow and blue in the Royal London One-Day Cup, Durham is currently sponsored by several companies including Emirates and Port of Tyne. The team was sponsored by Northern Rock prior to the nationalisation in 2008. The earliest reference is a game at Raby Castle on or soon after 5 August 1751 between the Earl of Northumberland’s XI and the Duke of Cleveland’s XI. The game was commemorated by a ballad which starts, Durham City has been dull so long, No bustle at all to show, But now the rage of all the throng Is at cricketing to go. As it happens, there was a return soon afterwards at Stanwick, near Richmond. The first recorded match of cricket in the county took place in 1848 at Sunderland. Despite their extra numbers the cricketers of Bishopwearmouth were comprehensively outplayed as All Englands scores of 129 and 143 dwarfed their own 56 and 59, early in 1989, the Club began the process of applying to become a first-class cricketing county and join the County Championship. First-class status was awarded on 6 December 1991, with Durham becoming the first new county for 70 years. Their first season in the County Championship was the 1992 season, for over a decade after gaining their status, Durham were not distinguished by marked success as a first-class county. However, in 2005 under the captaincy of Australian Mike Hussey Durham finished second, Durham had mixed success in the 2006 season, finishing second in the North Division of the C&G Trophy. However, Durham were poor in the Twenty20 cup, finishing last in the North Division and only managing 2 victories, both against Lancashire. The Pro40 campaign started well, with Durham taking 4 points from the first 4 games with a win, a loss, a tie

7.
Clarrie Grimmett
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Clarence Victor Clarrie Grimmett was a cricketer, although born in New Zealand, he played most of his cricket in Australia. He is thought by many to be one of the finest early spin bowlers, Grimmett was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on Christmas Day, leading Bill OReilly to say that he must have been the best Christmas present Australia ever received from that country. A schoolmaster encouraged him to concentrate on spin bowling rather than fast bowling and he played club cricket in Wellington, and made his first-class debut for Wellington at the age of 17. At that time, New Zealand was not a Test cricketing nation and he played club cricket in Sydney for 3 years. After marrying a Victorian, he moved to Melbourne, where he played cricket for Victoria. He moved to South Australia in 1923, but it is for his performances in Test cricket for the Australian cricket team that he is best remembered, Grimmett played 37 Tests between 1924 and 1936, taking 216 wickets at an average of just 24.21 runs apiece. He took two five wicket hauls on debut against England in Sydney in 1925 and he took an average of six wickets per match. Many wickets in the last four years of his Test career were taken bowling in tandem with fellow leg-spinner Bill OReilly, Grimmett remains the one of the few bowlers with career figures of over 200 wickets in fewer than 40 Tests. He took a bag on 21 occasions, seven times finishing with ten wickets or more in a match. His Test career only began when he was aged 33, and ended when he was 44 and his first-class records holds a total of 1,424 wickets in 248 matches between 1911 and 1941, again at a rate close to six wickets per match. He took 513 wickets in his 79 Sheffield Shield matches, Grimmett was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1931, the same year as Donald Bradman. He died in Adelaide in 1980, but was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 1996 as one of the ten inaugural members. On 30 September 2009, Clarrie Grimmett was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame

8.
Maurice Turnbull
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Maurice Joseph Lawson Turnbull was a Welsh cricketer who played in nine Tests for England from 1930 to 1936. A talented all round sportsman, Turnbull excelled in several sports, in cricket he captained the Cambridge University team in his final year of college and captained the Glamorgan County Cricket Club for ten seasons. In rugby union he represented Cardiff and London Welsh and gained two international caps for Wales in 1933. Turnbull also represented Wales at field hockey and was champion for South Wales. He is the person to have played cricket for England. Turnbull was born in Cardiff in 1906 into a sporting family. Turnbull was educated at Downside School near Bath, and the still has a bar named after him for the use of sixth formers. From Downside he went to Cambridge University and continued his connection with sport by winning sporting Blues in both cricket and hockey. On the 7th of Sept.1939 he married Elizabeth Brooke only daughter of William Brooke of Scunthorpe, Lincs. they had three children, Sara, Simon and Georgina. As a Major in the First Battalion of the Welsh Guards he was killed instantly by a bullet during intense fighting for the French village of Montchamp after the Normandy landings in 1944. His body was recovered from the battlefield by one of his men, Sergeant Fred Llewellyn, christopher Martin-Jenkins reported that to Maurice batting was an adventure. He was a gifted right-hander who made runs when they were wanted, initially as an on-side player, he developed all the recognised strokes and added some of his own, and he was also a fine short-leg fielder. Always associated in the public minds with Glamorgan, he first appeared for them as a schoolboy in 1924 and he captained Cambridge in 1929 and Glamorgan from 1930 until 1939. He toured Australia in 1929-30 and South Africa in 1930-31, and represented England against the West Indies, Turnbull wrote two cricketing books with fellow international Maurice Allom, The Book of Two Maurices and The Two Maurices Again. The books gave accounts of their tours to New Zealand. Turnbull was a sportsman as a youth, and played rugby for Downside School. He matriculated to Cambridge, and at university joined not only the cricket team, one of the earliest rugby clubs he represented was St. Peters in Cardiff. His elder brother, Bernard Turnbull had already represented Wales by this time, during the 1931–32 season, Turnbull played his first senior game for Cardiff, mainly playing at scrum-half, and by 1932 he was representing rugby at county level, playing for Glamorgan

9.
England cricket team
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The England cricket team is the team that represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board, England and Australia were the first teams to play a Test match, and these two countries together with South Africa formed the Imperial Cricket Conference on 15 June 1909. England and Australia also played the first One Day International on 5 January 1971, Englands first Twenty20 International was played on 13 June 2005, once more against Australia. As of 9 March 2017, England has played 983 Test matches, winning 351, the team has won The Ashes on 32 occasions, the same number as their opponents Australia. England has played 683 ODIs, winning 332, and its record in major ODI tournaments includes finishing as runners-up in three Cricket World Cups, and also in two ICC Champions Trophys, England has also played 89 T20Is, winning 43. They won the ICC World Twenty20 in 2010, and were runners-up in 2016, England are currently ranked fourth in Tests, fifth in ODIs and fifth in T20Is by the ICC. England currently holds the record for the highest ever ODI total of 444, such matches were repeated on numerous occasions for the best part of a century. In 1846 William Clarke formed the All-England Eleven and this team would eventually compete against a United All-England Eleven with annual matches occurring between 1847 and 1856. These matches were arguably the most important contest of the English season if judged by the quality of the players, the first overseas tour occurred in September 1859 with England touring North America. This team had six players from the All-England Eleven, six from the United All-England Eleven and was captained by George Parr, with the outbreak of the American Civil War, attention turned elsewhere. English tourists visited Australia in 1861-62 with this first tour organised as a venture by Messrs Spiers and Pond. Most matches played during tours prior to 1877 were against odds and this first Australian tour were mostly against odds of at least 18/11. The tour was so successful that George Parr led a tour in 1863–64. James Lillywhite led a subsequent England team which sailed on the P&O steamship Poonah on 21 September 1876 and they would play a combined Australian XI, for once on even terms of 11 a side. The match, starting on 15 March 1877 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground came to be regarded as the inaugural Test match, the combined Australian XI won this Test match by 45 runs with Charles Bannerman of Australia scoring the first Test century. At the time, the match was promoted as James Lillywhites XI v Combined Victoria, the teams played a return match on the same ground at Easter,1877, when Lillywhites team avenged their loss with a victory by four wickets. The first Test match on English soil occurred in 1880 with England victorious, – The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia. As a result of loss the tour of 1882–83 was dubbed by England captain Ivo Bligh as the quest to regain the ashes

10.
The Oval
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The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth, South London. The Oval has been the ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it was opened in 1845. It was the first ground in England to host international Test cricket in September 1880, the final Test match of the English season is traditionally played there. In addition to cricket, The Oval has hosted a number of historically significant sporting events. In 1870, it staged Englands first international match, versus Scotland. It hosted the first FA Cup final in 1872, as well as those between 1874 and 1892, in 1876, it held both the England v Wales and England v Scotland rugby international matches, and in 1877, rugbys first Varsity match. The Oval is built on part of the former Kennington Common, Cricket matches were played on the common throughout the early 18th century. The earliest recorded match was the London v Dartford match on 18 June 1724. However, as the common was used regularly for public executions of those convicted at the Surrey Assizes. Kennington Common was eventually enclosed in the mid 19th century under a scheme sponsored by the Royal Family, in 1844, the site of the Kennington Oval was a market garden owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. Hence, Surrey County Cricket Club was established in 1845, the popularity of the ground was immediate and the strength of the SCCC grew. On 3 May 1875 the club acquired the remainder of the leasehold for a term of 31 years from the Otter Trustees for the sum of £2,800. In 1868,20,000 spectators gathered at The Oval for the first game of the 1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England, the first tour of England by any foreign side. Thanks to C. W. Alcock, the Secretary of Surrey from 1872 to 1907, the Oval, thereby, became the second ground to stage a Test, after Melbourne Cricket Ground. In 1882, Australia won the Test by seven runs within two days, the Sporting Times printed a mocking obituary notice for English cricket, which led to the creation of the Ashes trophy, which is still contested whenever England plays Australia. The first Test double century was scored at The Oval in 1884 by Australias Billy Murdoch, surreys ground is noted as having the first artificial lighting at a sports arena, in the form of gas-lamps, dating to 1889. The current pavilion was completed in time for the 1898 season, in 1907, South Africa became the 2nd visiting Test team to play a Test match at the ground. In 1928, the West Indies played its first Test match at The Oval, in 1936, India became the fifth foreign visiting Test side to play at The Oval, followed by Pakistan in 1954 and Sri Lanka in 1998

11.
Australia national cricket team
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The Australia national cricket team, represents the country of Australia in international cricket. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, having played in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team draws its players from teams playing in the Australian domestic competitions – the Sheffield Shield, the Australian domestic limited-overs cricket tournament and the Big Bash League. The national team has played 801 Test matches, winning 377, losing 215, drawing 207, Australia is ranked the number-one team overall in Test cricket in terms of overall wins, win-loss ratio and wins percentage. As of 29 March 2017, Australia is ranked third in the ICC Test Championship on 108 rating points, the Australian cricket team has played 898 ODI matches, winning 554, losing 303, tying 9 and with 32 ending in no-result. They currently lead the ICC ODI Championship, having done so for 130 of 161 months since its introduction in 2002. Australia have made a record seven World Cup final appearances and have won the World Cup a record five times in total,1987,1999,2003,2007 and 2015 and it is also the second team to win a World Cup on home soil, after India. The team was undefeated in 34 consecutive World Cup matches until 19 March at the 2011 Cricket World Cup where Pakistan beat them by 4 wickets. Australia have also won the ICC Champions Trophy twice – in 2006 and in 2009 – making them the first and the only team to become back to back winners in the Champions Trophy tournaments. Test cricket, which occurred between Australia and England at the time, was limited by the long distance between the two countries, which would take several months by sea. Most cricketers at the time were either from New South Wales or Victoria, with the exception of George Giffen. A highlight of Australias early history was the 1882 Test match against England at The Oval, in this match Fred Spofforth took 7/44 in the games fourth innings to save the match by preventing England from making their 85-run target. This was the start of the famous Ashes series in which Australia, to this day, the contest is one of the fiercest rivalries in sport. It participated in between the 1897–98 English tour of Australia and the 1910–11 South African tour of Australia, Victor Trumper became one of Australias first sporting heroes, and was widely considered Australias greatest batsman before Bradman and one of the most popular players. He played a number of Tests at 49 and scored 3163 runs at a high for the time average of 39.04. His early death in 1915 at the age of 37 from kidney disease caused national mourning, the Wisden Cricketers Almanack, in its obituary for him, called him Australias greatest batsman, Of all the great Australian batsmen Victor Trumper was by general consent the best and most brilliant. Led by Peter McAlister, who was attempting to gain control of tours from the players. This led to six leading players walking out on the 1912 Triangular Tournament in England and this was the last series before the war, and no more cricket was played by Australia for eight years, with Tibby Cotter being killed in Palestine during the war. Test cricket resumed in the 1920/21 season in Australia with a touring English team, captained by Johnny Douglas losing all five Tests to Australia, the team continued its success on the 1921 Tour of England, winning three out of the five Tests in Warwick Armstrongs last series

12.
Herbert Sutcliffe
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Herbert Sutcliffe was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the two world wars and his fame rests mainly in the great opening partnership he formed with Jack Hobbs for England between 1924 and 1930. He also formed notable opening partnerships at Yorkshire with Percy Holmes and, in his last few seasons, during Sutcliffes career, Yorkshire won the County Championship 12 times. Sutcliffe played in 54 Test matches for England and on three occasions he toured Australia, where he enjoyed outstanding success and his last tour in 1932–33 included the controversial bodyline series, in which Sutcliffe is perceived to have been one of Douglas Jardines main supporters. Although close friends have stated that Sutcliffe did not approve of bodyline, Sutcliffe became a successful businessman early in his first-class career by using the money he earned as a player to establish a sportswear shop in Leeds. When his playing career ended, he served on the committee at Yorkshire for 21 years. Among the honours accorded him have been the commemoration of a set of gates in his name at Headingley, home of Yorkshire CCC. Herbert Sutcliffe was born in Summerbridge, Nidderdale, West Riding of Yorkshire on 24 November 1894 at his parents home and his parents were Willie and Jane Sutcliffe. Herbert was the second of three sons, his brothers being Arthur and Bob, Willie Sutcliffe, who worked at a sawmill in nearby Dacre Banks, was a keen club cricketer. When Herbert was still a baby the family moved to Pudsey, Willie worked in the pub and played cricket for the well-known Pudsey St Lawrence Cricket Club. He also played football, and an injury sustained during a rugby match led to his premature death in 1898. Jane Sutcliffe moved the back to Nidderdale, where they lived in Darley, the boys enrolling at Darley School. Jane developed consumption, and she died in January 1904 at the age of 37, janes second husband was a bootmaker called Tom Waller but he was not allowed custody of the brothers who moved back to Pudsey to be cared for by the Sutcliffe family. Willie Sutcliffe had three sisters, Sarah, Carrie and Harriet, who ran a bakery and they became the legal guardians of Arthur, Herbert and Bob, respectively. As the three aunts were devoted members of the local Congregational Church, the three boys received religious instruction there and Herbert became a lifelong committed Christian. He was a Sunday School teacher as a man and first came to notice as a cricketer when he played for a church team. The boys lived in the house which contained the bakery. Herbert left school in 1908 when he was 13, and was apprenticed to a boot, Sutcliffe became seriously interested in cricket at the age of eight, soon after he returned to Pudsey during his mothers final illness

13.
Alan Kippax
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Alan Falconer Kippax was a cricketer for New South Wales and Australia. A middle-order batsman, he toured England twice, and at level was a prolific scorer. His career was curtailed by the controversial Bodyline tactics employed by England on their 1932–33 tour of Australia and his omission from the 1926 team to tour England caused great controversy at the time—especially as he hit a brilliant 271 not out against Victoria on the eve of selection. Kippax was well into his thirties by the time he became a consistent selection for the Test team. Highly regarded by fellow players and spectators, Kippaxs innings of 83 in the Lords Test of 1930 induced Neville Cardus to comment that. The third son of Arthur Percival Howell Kippax and his wife Sophie Estelle and he attended both Bondi and Cleveland Street Public schools. At 14, Kippax joined Waverley and was a regular in the team within three years. At this stage, first-class cricket was suspended because of World War I, however, the state possessed a lot of batting talent, which was supplemented by the return to Australia of the Australian Imperial Forces cricket team that played in England after the armistice. Therefore, Kippax’s opportunities were restricted for a number of seasons and he also played a lot of baseball with the Waverley Baseball Club and represented Australia against touring teams from American universities. Kippax’s cricketing potential did not go completely unnoticed and he was offered a tour of New Zealand in the autumn of 1921. Playing in an Australian second team captained by the Test batsman Vernon Ransford, in the 1922–23 season, Kippax became a regular for NSW, scoring 631 runs at 90.14. and led the sides first-class averages. The next season he hit 248 in only 316 minutes against South Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Kippax made two centuries in his 461 runs on the tour. He quickly won the respect of his players and the spectators for his approach to the game. Alan McGilvray describes Kippaxs demeanour and presence on the field, meticulous in his dress and his life, a man with a squeaky-clean image who would never raise his voice or allow his emotions to run away with him. His shirt would always be buttoned the same way, the crease would always be sharp in his trousers and he was an admirable engaging man. Journalists employed many superlatives to describe the Kippax style and his favourite hook shot propelled the ball with such unhurried ease that the punishing power of the stroke was revealed only in the way the ball smacked against the fence. Donald Bradman believed him to be the best exponent of the shot in the game. Kippax began the 1924–25 summer with 115 for NSW against an Australian XI at the SCG

14.
Bill Woodfull
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William Maldon Bill Woodfull OBE was an Australian cricketer of the 1920s and 1930s. Trained as a schoolteacher, Woodfull was known for his benevolent attitude towards his players, Woodfull was not a flamboyant player, but was known for his calm, unruffled style and his reliability in difficult situations. His opening pairing with fellow Victorian Bill Ponsford for both his state and Australia remains one of the most successful in history, Woodfull started playing cricket from a young age, but did not distinguish himself in his youth. He did make his debut in Melbournes district competition until the age of 19, after returning to Melbourne in 1921, he came to the attention of the state selectors, and made his first-class debut for Victoria at the age of 24 late in the 1921–22. After scoring a century in his match, Woodfull was promoted to open the following season. In his first four seasons at first-class level, he accumulated over 3,000 first-class runs at an average beyond 65, at the end of the 1924–25 season, Woodfull scored 522 runs in four innings, including three centuries. After scoring three centuries, including a 236, in 1925–26, he was selected for the 1926 tour of England. Regarded as one of the last players selected, Woodfull scored a century and century in his first two innings in England to earn his debut in the first Test. He played in each Test, scoring two centuries, Woodfull made eight centuries during the tour and topped the Australian averages and was named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year. Woodfull averaged 69.00 for the season, and both he and Ponsford averaged over 125 the following summer, overwhelming opposition bowlers and helping Victoria win the Sheffield Shield easily. Woodfull was appointed as vice-captain to Jack Ryder for the 1928–29 home Ashes series following a spate of retirements, Woodfull carried his bat in a record-breaking first Test defeat. Although England easily won 4–1, Woodfull stood firm to three centuries in the last four Tests, and added his best first-class score for 275 not out in a tour match against the Englishmen. The following season, Woodfulls campaign was truncated by a hand injury, Woodfull reluctantly became captain in 1930 when Jack Ryder was dropped, and his team was derided as the worst Australian squad to tour England. It was the youngest squad to leave Australia, and only four of the fifteen players had experience in England. After losing the first Test, Woodfull scored a century as Australia levelled the series, Woodfull ended the tour with six first-class centuries. In 1930–31 Woodfull broke up his combination with Ponsford and dropped down the order to accommodate Archie Jackson in the Tests against the West Indies, the Australian captain struggled in his unfamiliar role, scoring 204 runs at 34.00 for the series, which Australia won 4–1. In 1932–33, great controversy erupted during Englands tour of Australia, the visitors, captained by Douglas Jardine, used bodyline tactics—persistently aiming at the upper bodies and heads of the Australian batsmen in the hope of stifling the hosts strong batting line-up. The Australian public and cricket community abhorred the tactic, but Woodfull refused to retaliate or complain publicly, the controversy peaked during the third Test at the Adelaide Oval

15.
Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji
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Duleepsinhji usually referred to as Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji or K. S. Duleepsinhji was a cricketer who played for England. He was educated at the Rajkumar College, Rajkot, India and Cheltenham College, Gloucestershire, descended from the Jam Sahibs of Nawanagar State, Duleepsinhji was born on the Kathiawar peninsula in present-day Gujarat. His brothers included Himmatsinhji, the first Lieutenant-Governor of Himachal Pradesh, and Digvijaysinhji, there is no doubt about the judgment and certainty with which he takes toll of straight balls of anything but the most immaculate length. His late cutting is quite beautiful and there is a certain ease, Duleepsinhji went on to achieve great success as a batsman for Cheltenham College, Cambridge University, Sussex and eventually England in a career cut short by recurrent illness. His Test average of 58.5 ranks him among the best batsmen to have played Test cricket, as Maharaja of Navanagar he took lot of interest in the well being of his subjects and the State governing. Duleepsinhji also visited the first and the public utility thermal power station in the State, at that time located at Shapur Sorath. Duleepsinhji died on 5 December 1959 in Bombay, the Duleep Trophy is named in his honour. His uncle Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji, after whom the Ranji Trophy is named, Duleepsinhji at ESPNcricinfo Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji, Cricketer of the Year 1930, By Wisden Almanack archive

16.
Wally Hammond
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Walter Reginald Wally Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning as a professional, he became an amateur and was appointed captain of England. Primarily a middle-order batsman, Wisden Cricketers Almanack described him in his obituary as one of the four best batsmen in the history of cricket. He was considered to be the best English batsman of the 1930s by commentators, Hammond was an effective fast-medium pace bowler and contemporaries believed that if he had been less reluctant to bowl, he could have achieved even more with the ball than he did. In a Test career spanning 85 matches, he scored 7,249 runs, Hammond captained England in 20 of those Tests, winning four, losing three, and drawing 13. In 1933, he set a record for the highest individual Test innings of 336 not out, in all first-class cricket, he scored 50,551 runs and 167 centuries, respectively the seventh and third highest totals by a first-class cricketer as of 2015. With the ball, he took 732 wickets, although Hammond began his career in 1920, he was required to wait until 1923 before he could play full-time, after his qualification to play for Gloucestershire was challenged. He began to score heavily after his recovery in 1927 and was selected for England, in the 1928–29 series against Australia he scored 905 runs, then a record aggregate for a Test series. He dominated county cricket in the 1930s and, despite a slump in Test form, was made captain of England in 1938. He continued as captain after the Second World War, but his health had deteriorated and he appeared in two more first-class matches in the early 1950s. Hammond was married twice, divorcing his first wife in acrimonious circumstances and his relationships with other players were difficult, team-mates and opponents alike found him hard to get along with. He was unsuccessful in business dealings and failed to establish a successful career once he retired from cricket and he moved to South Africa in the 1950s in an attempt to start a business, but this came to nothing. As a result, he and his family struggled financially, shortly after beginning a career as a sports administrator, he was involved in a serious car crash in 1960 which left him frail. He died of an attack in 1965. Hammond was born on 19 June 1903 in Dover and his parents, William—a corporal in the Royal Garrison Artillery—and Marion Hammond, lived in the married quarters at Dover Castle where Walter was born. They had wed the previous December, Hammond spent his early years in Dover, often playing cricket. When he was five years old, his father was posted to Hong Kong to serve on the China Station, the family remained there until 1911, followed by a posting to Malta until 1914. Hammond later recalled playing cricket in Malta using improvised equipment, including a soldiers old bat which he believed him to strike the ball powerfully

17.
Jack Hobbs
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Sir John Berry Jack Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Known as The Master, he is regarded by critics as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket and he is the leading run-scorer and century-maker in first-class cricket, with 61,760 runs and 199 centuries. A right-handed batsman and an occasional right-arm medium pace bowler, Hobbs also excelled as a fielder, born into poverty in 1882, Hobbs wished from an early age to pursue a career in cricket. His early batting was undistinguished, but an improvement in 1901 brought him to the attention of local teams. In 1903 he successfully applied to join Surrey, with the support of England batsman Tom Hayward and his reputation grew and when he qualified to play for Surrey, he scored 88 on his first-class debut and a century in his next game. Over the following seasons, he established himself as a county player and in 1908 made his Test debut for England. In county cricket, he developed an attacking, dynamic style of play and was successful up until 1914. When he returned, he was a more cautious batsmen and used a style of play. Subsequently, he became more consistent and scored prolifically in both Test and domestic cricket until his retirement, in this period, he played some of his most acclaimed innings. Hobbs success was based on fast footwork, an ability to play many different shots and he was particularly successful on difficult pitches for batting. An opening batsman, Hobbs established several effective opening partnerships, with Tom Hayward and Andy Sandham for Surrey and with Wilfred Rhodes and his partnership with Sutcliffe remains in 2016 the most effective for the first wicket, in terms of average partnership, in Test history. Contemporaries rated Hobbs extremely highly, and critics continue to list him among the best batsmen of all time, after his cricketing retirement, he also worked in journalism. Knighted in 1953, the first professional cricketer to be so honoured and he died, aged 81, a few months after her in 1963. Hobbs was born in Cambridge on 16 December 1882, the first of 12 children to John Cooper Hobbs, a slater, Hobbs was raised in a poor, run-down area of the city, and he spent most of his childhood in near-poverty. Hobbs senior, a lover of cricket, changed his career to become a professional cricketer, from an early age, Hobbs played cricket whenever he could. His first games were played in the streets near his house and he played cricket regularly for the St Matthews choir team and the York Street school team, and during holidays helped his father at Jesus College. In his final year at York Street, to supplement the family budget, on leaving school in 1895, he worked as an errand boy until his fathers connections at the university secured him a summer job as a college servant, chiefly assisting the cricket team. Aged 16, Hobbs became a gas fitter, and practised cricket on Parkers Piece

18.
Andy Sandham
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Andrew Sandham was an English cricketer, a right-handed batsman who played 14 Test matches between 1921 and 1930. Sandham made the first triple century in Test cricket,325 against the West Indies in 1930, born in Streatham, London, Sandham made his Surrey debut in 1911, and was capped in 1913. He passed 2,000 runs in eight seasons, and during the part of his career between 1924 and 1931 averaged above 50 in all but two years. Sandham made his England debut in 1921 against Australia, inching his way to 21 in 81 minutes before being bowled by a snorter from Ted McDonald, in 1924 Herbert Sutcliffe made his Test debut, and his success as Hobbs opening partner restricted Sandhams opportunities subsequently. He played only five innings against Australia during his career and thought that the greatest regret of his career, Sandham went to South Africa in 1926–27 and scored heavily in the matches against domestic opposition, averaging above 60, but was not picked for any of the Tests. However, he did play in the Caribbean series in 1929–30, in the first Test at Bridgetown he made 152 and 51. In the next two games he failed completely, making 0 and 5 at Port of Spain and then 9 and 0 at Georgetown. The theoretically timeless match was in fact abandoned as a draw after nine days and his aggregate of 375 in the match stood as the Test record until Greg Chappell eclipsed it. He made the runs with a bat borrowed from his captain Freddie Calthorpe. At 39 years and 272 days, he is, by almost five years, Sandham went to South Africa with MCC in 1930/31. He broke a bone in his ankle in a accident in Durban in December. It required an operation and ended his tour after two first class matches. The Kingston Test was therefore to be Sandhams final match at Test level and he continued to appear regularly for Surrey for a number of years, scoring 219 against the touring Australians in 1934, a record for a county player against that opposition. He recorded his hundredth first-class hundred in 1935 on a pitch at Basingstoke. He made 239 against Glamorgan as late as June 1937, only a short of his 47th birthday. He scored 102 in his match in England, against Sussex at Hove. These matches were designated as first-class, and so he ended with a whimper, after the war, Sandham returned to Surrey as coach and delighted in the countys seven successive County Championship titles in the 1950s, later becoming the clubs scorer. He died in 1982 in Westminster, London

19.
Maurice Leyland
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Maurice Leyland was an English cricketer who played 41 Test matches between 1928 and 1938. In first-class cricket, he represented Yorkshire between 1920 and 1946, scoring over 1,000 runs in 17 consecutive seasons, a left-handed middle-order batsman and occasional left-arm spinner, Leyland was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1929. Born in Harrogate, Leyland came from a cricketing family, after playing locally, he made his Yorkshire debut in 1920, and appeared intermittently in the following two seasons. Although not statistically successful, he impressed judges at the club and he steadily improved over the following seasons to reach the fringes of the England team and made his Test debut in 1928 against West Indies. That winter, he toured Australia—a controversial decision as he replaced the famous batsman Frank Woolley—and scored a century in his only Test of the series and he remained in the side until 1930, but a loss of form in the next two seasons called his place into question. He recovered by scoring 1,000 runs in August 1932 to secure his inclusion in the team to tour Australia in 1932–33. During that series, Leyland scored runs several times under pressure and by the time Australia toured England in 1934 and he held his place until 1938 when he was replaced in the team by younger batsmen for the series against Australia. Recalled for the match, he scored 187, his highest Test score in what became his last match. After military service in the Second World War, Leyland returned to the Yorkshire team for one season before announcing his retirement from regular first-class cricket and he maintained his connection with Yorkshire, and served as the county coach between 1950 and 1963. Although he was neither aesthetically nor technically among the best batsmen, outside of Tests, he had some success with the ball, and had it not been for the depth of spin bowling in Yorkshire, he might have been a leading bowler. He was one of the first to bowl left-arm wrist-spin, very popular with team-mates and spectators, Leyland had a reputation as a humorist, and many stories were told about him. Leyland was born in Bilton, an area of Harrogate, to Mercy and he was registered at birth as Morris Leyland but his name was usually spelt Maurice. His father was a stonemason and a professional cricketer for Moorside in Lancashire. Leyland senior also acted as Moorsides groundsman, and in later years continued that role at Harrogate, Headingley Cricket Ground, Leyland junior joined his father in the Moorside team in 1912, and by the age of fourteen had graduated to the Lancashire League. After military service in the First World War, he became a cricketer for Harrogate between 1918 and 1920. From there he made appearances for the Yorkshire Council, and Yorkshires second team, for whom he bowled regularly, around this time, he also played football for Harrogate. During the early 1920s, the Yorkshire committee was attempting to find players to replace those whose careers had ended with the First World War, late in the 1920 season, Leyland made his first-class debut for Yorkshire, having played several times in the second team that summer. He played once, against Essex, scoring ten runs in his only innings and he had never previously attended a County Championship game

20.
Charlie Parker (cricketer)
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Charles Warrington Leonard Charlie Parker was an English cricketer, who stands as the third highest wicket taker in the history of first-class cricket, behind Wilfred Rhodes and Tich Freeman. Parker took no serious attention to cricket in his childhood, preferring to concentrate on golf and he only took to cricket around 1900 and was recommended to Gloucestershire by W. G. Grace in 1903. However, he played twice in first-class cricket before 1907. From then on, he played regularly, and despite several excellent performances, by 1914, Parker had not taken 100 wickets in a season and his last two years had been very expensive, suggesting that his was to be an insignificant career. In 1919, with Dennett serving as an officer in the Army and he took more wickets than ever before in a season, but he was still expensive even when the dry weather was taken into account. However, from 1920 Parker became one of the best left arm spin bowlers in England, a little quicker than most of his type, on rain affected or crumbling pitches he was almost unplayable due to his vicious spin which could hit off stump from outside leg. Though helped by appalling batting sides for much of his success, Parker took 125 wickets in 1920,167 in 1921,206 in 1922,204 in 1924, and headed the first-class averages with 222 in 1925. This success reflected Parkers ability to get through huge amounts of bowling, among his best feats were 9 for 36 against Yorkshire in 1922 and 10 for 79 against Somerset in 1921. He took a hat trick in each innings against Middlesex at Bristol in 1924 after his Gloucestershire team had themselves been bowled out for 31. He took 17 for 56 against Essex in 1925, and 16 for 109 against Middlesex in 1930, from 1929 to 1931 he formed, with Tom Goddard, the most lethal bowling combination in county cricket, aided by the brilliant close fielding of Wally Hammond. He nearly completed what would have been a unique feat in taking five wickets in five balls in first-class cricket. He hit the stumps five times in consecutive balls in his match for Gloucestershire against Yorkshire at the County Cricket Ground, Bristol in 1922. However, age finally caught up with Parker in 1932 after a promising beginning, though he still spun the ball considerably, he lost his accuracy of length and consequently was expensive. Because Gloucestershire had no support for him and Goddard, Parker continued to play until 1935, because Australian wickets of the 1920s and 1930s were totally unresponsive to his bowling, Parker was never even considered for a tour there. In fact, he played only one Test, at Old Trafford in 1921, as a batsman, he rarely accomplished much, though he nearly did the match double against Leicestershire in 1921 and Somerset in 1922. After he retired in 1935, Parker became an umpire until World War II, following the war, he coached cricket at Cranleigh almost up to his death on 11 July 1959. Charlie Parker was the first player to take three hat-tricks in a single first-class season and his record was later equaled by J. S. Rao in 1963-64, and Dean Headley in 1996, Charlie Parker First Class Bowling In Each Season By Charlie Parker

21.
Hedley Verity
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Hedley Verity was a professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire and England between 1930 and 1939. A slow left-arm orthodox bowler, he took 1,956 wickets in cricket at an average of 14.90 and 144 wickets in 40 Tests at an average of 24.37. Named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1932, never someone who spun the ball sharply, he achieved success through the accuracy of his bowling. On pitches which made batting difficult, particularly affected by rain. Verity was born in Leeds and, from an early age, after establishing a good reputation in local cricket, he signed a contract as a professional cricketer playing in the Lancashire League. His first season was not a success but, after moving clubs, initially a medium-paced bowler, he switched to bowling spin in an attempt to secure a place in the Yorkshire team. When Wilfred Rhodes, the incumbent Yorkshire left-arm spinner, announced his retirement, Verity had a trial in the team in 1930. The latter bowling figures remain a record in first-class cricket for the fewest runs conceded while taking all 10 wickets and he established himself as part of a strong bowling unit, which assisted Yorkshire to the County Championship seven times in his ten seasons with the club. In that time, Verity was never lower than fifth in the bowling averages, in 1931, he was chosen to play for England for the first time and rose to prominence during a tour to Australia in 1932–33. Afterwards, he played regularly for England and achieved the best performance of his career when he took 15 wickets against Australia in a Test match at Lords Cricket Ground in 1934. However, critics claimed he was ineffective on good batting pitches, even so, he had one of the best records of any bowler against Donald Bradman, generally regarded as the greatest batsman in the history of cricket. Verity continued to play for Yorkshire and England until 1939, when the outbreak of the Second World War ended his career, Verity joined the Green Howards in 1939, and after training was posted overseas to India, Persia and Egypt, achieving the rank of captain. During the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943, Verity was severely wounded and captured by the Germans, taken to the Italian mainland, he died in Caserta from his injuries and was buried there. Verity was born in Headingley, an area of Leeds, on 18 May 1905 and he was the eldest child of Hedley Verity, who worked for a local coal company, and Edith Elwick, a Sunday school teacher. Verity also had two sisters, Grace and Edith, the family moved to Armley, then to the more rural location of Rawdon. From an early age, Verity watched Yorkshire play County Cricket matches at Leeds, Bradford and, during family holidays, Verity left school aged 14 to work for his father, who had established a coal business in Guiseley, and played cricket for Rawdons second team. Success on the field persuaded Verity to seek a career in professional cricket, while working for his father, he devoted increasing amounts of time to cricket practice. In 1921, Verity made his debut for Rawdon in league cricket, some of his subsequent performances attracted the notice of the local press, and he took 29 wickets at an average of 13.80 that season

22.
Harold Larwood
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Harold Larwood was a professional cricketer for Nottinghamshire and England between 1924 and 1938. A right-arm fast bowler who combined unusual speed with great accuracy and he made his Test debut in 1926, in only his second season in first-class cricket, and was a member of the 1928–29 touring side that retained the Ashes in Australia. The advent of the Australian batsman Don Bradman ended a period of English cricket supremacy, Larwood, thereafter, under the guidance of Englands combative captain Douglas Jardine, the fast leg theory or bodyline bowling attack was developed. With Larwood as its spearhead the tactic was used with success in the 1932–33 Test series in Australia. He never played for England after the 1932–33 tour, but continued his county career with success for several more seasons. In 1949, after years out of the limelight, Larwood was elected to membership of the MCC. He worked for a soft drinks firm, and as an occasional reporter and he paid several visits to England, and was honoured at his old county ground, Trent Bridge, where a stand was named after him. In 1993, at the age of 88, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in belated recognition of his services to cricket. Harold Larwood was born on 14 November 1904 in the Nottinghamshire village of Nuncargate and he was the fourth of five sons born to Robert Larwood, a miner, and his wife Mary, née Sharman. Robert was a man of principles, a disciplinarian teetotaller who was treasurer of the local Methodist chapel. His chief pastime was playing cricket for the team, which he captained. Harold Larwoods biographer Duncan Hamilton writes that for Robert, cricket represented, from the age of five, Harold attended Kirkby Woodhouse school. He had shown a talent for cricket, and began to play for Nuncargates second team in 1918. Playing against experienced adults, in his first season he took 76 wickets at an average of 4.9, by 1920 he was in the first team, alongside his father, playing in plimsolls because the family could not afford to buy him proper cricket boots. Despite his short stature, Larwood had acquired considerable stamina and upper body strength from his long shifts at the mine, among those who watched his rising prowess as a fast bowler was Joe Hardstaff senior, the Nottinghamshire and England cricketer who lived in Nuncargate. Hardstaff, who had worked with Robert Larwood at the mine, in April 1923 father and son made the journey to Trent Bridge. In the practice nets, the county players towered over Larwood, at first he bowled badly, and his efforts were unimpressive. As his confidence increased his bowling improved, and committee members began to revise their initial dismissive judgement and he accepted instantly, the terms were 32 shillings per week—the same as his mining wages—and he was expected, when not playing, to carry out ground staff duties

23.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker

24.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
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Wisden Cricketers Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. It is considered the worlds most famous reference book. The description bible of cricket was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a review for the London Mercury, in October 2013, an all-time Test World XI was announced to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Cricketers Almanack. In 1998, an Australian edition of Wisden Cricketers Almanack was launched, in 2012, an Indian edition of Wisden Cricketers Almanack was launched. Wisden was founded in 1864 by the English cricketer John Wisden as a competitor to Fred Lillywhites The Guide to Cricketers and its annual publication has continued uninterrupted to the present day, making it the longest running sports annual in history. The sixth edition was the first published under its current title, charles Pardon, with George Kelly King, founded the Cricket Reporting Agency in 1880. Wisden was acquired and published by Robert Maxwells publishing conglomerate, Macdonald, Cricket fan Sir John Paul Getty, Jr. bought the company, John Wisden & Co, in 1993 and in December 2008 it was sold to A&C Black, which is owned by Bloomsbury. The company presented the Wisden Trophy, for Test matches between England and West Indies, in 1963 to celebrate its 100th edition, in 2013, a history of Wisden was published, The Little Wonder, The Remarkable History of Wisden, by Robert Winder. The Little Wonder was John Wisdens nickname, Wisden is a small-paged but a very thick book with a distinctive bright yellow cover that it has carried since the 75th edition in 1938. Prior to that, covers varied between yellow, buff and salmon pink and that edition was also the first to display the famous woodcut of two cricketers, by Eric Ravilious, on its cover. It is published each April, just before the start of the English domestic cricket season, since 2003 the woodcut has been replaced as the main feature of the front cover by a photograph of a current cricketer, but still appears albeit in a much reduced size. It is produced in both hardcover and softcover versions, since 2006, a larger format edition has been published on an experimental basis. This is said to be in response to requests from readers who find the print size of the standard edition hard to read and it is around twice the traditional size and was published in a limited edition of 5,000. It is not a print book as such, as the print will still be of a size found in many standard books. From 2011 an Epub version, The Shorter Wisden, has been available in online bookstores, excluded are the statistics and other cricket reports contained within the Almanack proper. The format has changed markedly over the years, the first edition had only 112 pages yet found space to cover the dates of battles in the English Civil War, the winners of The Oaks and the rules of quoiting. The traditional Wisden Cricketers of the Year awards, which date back to 1889, traditionally the main source for key statistics about the game, although it has never attempted to be comprehensive. Nowadays the records section is intended to be complementary to the more detailed data available online at Wisdens associated website ESPNcricinfo

25.
Irving Rosenwater
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Irving Rosenwater was an English cricket researcher and author whose best-known work was Sir Donald Bradman - A Biography. Born in the East End of London to a Polish father, Rosenwater initially had two birth certificates, the first registered him as Isidore, but his parents had second thoughts and promptly changed it. In 1970, Rosenwater became the official scorer for BBC TV, succeeding Roy Webber. Rosenwater was statistician for Channel Nine until the late 1980s and it is not exactly known when he left Nine. Wendy Wimbush took over him and later Max Kruger who currently occupies the position and has done so for over 10 years

26.
Underarm bowling
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In cricket, underarm bowling is as old as the sport itself. Until the introduction of the style in the first half of the 19th century, bowling was performed in the same way as in bowls. For centuries, bowling was performed exactly as in bowls because the ball was rolled or skimmed along the ground. The bowlers may have used variations in pace but the action was essentially the same. Crickets first great bowling revolution occurred probably in the 1760s when bowlers started to pitch the ball instead of rolling it along the ground, the pitched delivery was established by 1772 when detailed scorecards became commonplace and the straight bat had already replaced the curved one by that time. There is no doubt that the bat was invented to contest the pitched delivery. It has been said that the inventor was John Small of Hambledon but it is unlikely that he invented it, rather. The 1760s are one of crickets Dark Ages, a deal more is known about the decades 1731–1750 than of 1751–1770. This has largely to do with the impact of the Seven Years War of 1756–1763 which not only claimed the sports manpower but also its patronage. The rules for bowlers in the 1744 Laws focus on the position of the foot during delivery. The umpires were granted discretion and so presumably would call no ball if, say, one of the first great bowlers to employ the pitched delivery to good effect was Edward Lumpy Stevens of Chertsey and Surrey. There is a rhyme about him to the effect that honest Lumpy did allow he neer would pitch. Lumpy was a professional who studied the arts and crafts of the game to seek continuous improvement as a bowler. He is known to have observed the flight of the ball and experimented for long hours with variations of line, length, other great bowlers of the late 18th century were Thomas Brett and David Harris, both of Hambledon. They were fast bowlers whereas Lumpy relied on variety of pace, an interesting bowler of the time was Lamborn who spun the ball in an unorthodox fashion and may have been the original unorthodox spinner. Underarm bowling was effective while pitch conditions were difficult for batsmen due to being uneven, in time, especially after the opening of Lords and the development of groundsmanship, pitches began to improve and batsmen were able to play longer innings than formerly. In the 1780s and 1790s, one of the best batsmen around was Tom Walker, Walker was another improviser like Lumpy and he began to experiment by bowling with his hand away from his body. It is not clear how high he raised his hand but it could have been waist height and he was accused of jerking the ball and so delivering it in an unfair and improper manner

27.
History of cricket to 1725
–
The earliest definite reference to cricket is dated Monday,17 January 1597. Derricks testimony makes clear that the sport was being played c.1550, All that can be said with a fair degree of certainty is that its beginning was earlier than 1550, somewhere in south-east England within the counties of Kent, Sussex and Surrey. Therefore, forest clearings and land where sheep had grazed would have been suitable places to play, the sparse information available about the early years suggests that it may have been a childrens game in the 16th century but, by 1611, it had become an adult pastime. The earliest known organised match was played c.1611, a year in other significant references to the sport are dated. From 1611 to 1725, less than thirty matches are known to have been organised between recognised teams, similarly, only a limited number of players, teams and venues of the period have been recorded. The earliest matches played by English parish teams are examples of village cricket, although village matches are now considered minor in status, the early matches are significant in crickets history simply because they are known. There were no reports of matches until the end of the seventeenth century and so the primary sources are court records and private diaries. During the reign of Charles I, the took a increased interest as patrons. Its patrons staged lucrative eleven-a-side matches featuring the earliest professional players, meanwhile, English colonists had introduced cricket to North America and the West Indies, and the sailors and traders of the East India Company had taken it to the Indian subcontinent. In the first quarter of the 18th century, more information about cricket became available as the newspaper industry took an interest. The sport noticeably began to spread throughout England as the century went on, by 1725, significant patrons such as Edwin Stead, Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and Sir William Gage were forming teams of county strength in Kent and Sussex. The earliest known great players, including William Bedle and Thomas Waymark, were active, Cricket was attracting large, vociferous crowds and the matches were social occasions at which gambling and alcoholic drinks were additional attractions. As early as c.1611, a match was recorded at Chevening in Kent between teams representing the Downs and the Weald. A number of words in use at the time are thought to be possible sources for the name cricket. In the earliest known reference to the sport in 1598, it is called creckett, in what may be an early reference to the sport, a 1533 poem attributed to John Skelton describes Flemish weavers as kings of crekettes, a word of apparent Middle Dutch origin. In Samuel Johnsons Dictionary of the English Language, he derived cricket from cryce, Saxon, in Old French, the word criquet seems to have meant a kind of club or stick, though this may have been the origin of croquet. Another possible source is the Middle Dutch word krickstoel, meaning a long low stool used for kneeling in church, according to Heiner Gillmeister, a European language expert of the University of Bonn, cricket derives from the Middle Dutch phrase for hockey, met de sen. Gillmeister believes the sport itself had a Flemish origin but the jury is out on the matter

28.
1729 English cricket season
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The 1729 cricket season was the 132nd in England since the earliest known definite reference to cricket in January 1597. Details have survived of seven important matches, the earliest known innings victory is believed to have happened in 1729 and the earliest known surviving cricket bat dates from the season. The earliest known reference to cricket in the county of Gloucestershire has been found, the match on 24 June involved a team specifically named Sussex, but the result is unknown. Despite losing to Gages team in August, Kent under the patronage of Edwin Stead is generally believed to have been the strongest county team of the 1720s, there is a bat in The Oval pavilion which belonged to John Chitty of Knaphill, Surrey. Dated 1729, it is the oldest known bat, pitching began about 30 years later and the straight bats used nowadays were invented in response to the pitched delivery. Dr Samuel Johnson attended the University of Oxford from October 1728 until the summer and later told James Boswell that cricket matches were played there. Boswell mentioned this in his Life of Samuel Johnson, a local game in Gloucester on Monday,22 September is the earliest known reference to cricket in Gloucestershire. Gloucestershire Gentlemen of London Gentlemen of Middlesex Sussex Sussex, Surrey & Hampshire none Walworth Common Woolpack, a Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709 –1863. Cricket, A History of its Growth and Development, fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. From Commons to Lords, Volume One,1700 to 1750, a History of Cricket, Volume 1. A Social History of English Cricket, Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century. Classification of cricket matches from 1697 to 1825, archived from the original on 29 June 2011

Australian cricket team
–
The Australia national cricket team, represents the country of Australia in international cricket. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, having played in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team draws its players from teams playing in the Australian domestic competitions – the Sheffield Shield, the Australian domestic limited-over

1.
The Australian team that toured England in 1878.

2.
Insignia on the baggy green

Don Bradman
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Sir Donald George Don Bradman, AC, often referred to as The Don, was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradmans career Test batting average of 99.94 is often cited as the greatest achievement by any sportsman in any major sport, the story that the young Bradman practised alone with a cricket stump and

1.
Sir Donald Bradman

2.
Bradman's birthplace at Cootamundra is now a museum.

3.
Bradman in 1928

4.
Bradman is chaired off the ground by his opponents after scoring 452.

Lancashire County Cricket Club
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Lancashire County Cricket Club, one of eighteen first-class county clubs in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales, represents the historic county of Lancashire. The clubs limited overs team is called Lancashire Lightning, when the County Championship was officially founded in December 1889, Lancashire was one of eight clubs to feature

1.
Johnny Briggs played for Lancashire between 1879 and 1900 and is the only player to have scored 10,000 runs and taken 1,000 wickets for the club.

2.
Lancashire County Cricket Club

3.
A 1908 cigarette card of Archie MacLaren who captained the club from 1894 to 1896 and holds the record for the highest first-class score by an Englishman.

4.
Old Trafford in 2007, before the ground was renovated.

County Championship
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The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. The competition consists of eighteen clubs named after, and originally representing, historic counties, seventeen from England, from 2016, the Championship will be sponsored by Specsavers, who replaced Liverpool Victoria after 14 years. In contrast, the te

1.
County Championship

Lancashire CCC
–
Lancashire County Cricket Club, one of eighteen first-class county clubs in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales, represents the historic county of Lancashire. The clubs limited overs team is called Lancashire Lightning, when the County Championship was officially founded in December 1889, Lancashire was one of eight clubs to feature

1.
Johnny Briggs played for Lancashire between 1879 and 1900 and is the only player to have scored 10,000 runs and taken 1,000 wickets for the club.

2.
Lancashire County Cricket Club

3.
A 1908 cigarette card of Archie MacLaren who captained the club from 1894 to 1896 and holds the record for the highest first-class score by an Englishman.

4.
Old Trafford in 2007, before the ground was renovated.

Durham CCC
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Durham County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the county of Durham. Since the 2014 season the Twenty20 team has called the Durham Jets. Founded in 1882, Durham held minor status for over a century and was a prominent member of the Minor Counties Champ

1.
Former England player Paul Collingwood is the current First class captain of Durham

2.
Durham County Cricket Club

3.
The Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street

Clarrie Grimmett
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Clarence Victor Clarrie Grimmett was a cricketer, although born in New Zealand, he played most of his cricket in Australia. He is thought by many to be one of the finest early spin bowlers, Grimmett was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on Christmas Day, leading Bill OReilly to say that he must have been the best Christmas present Australia ever receiv

1.
Grimmett in 1937

Maurice Turnbull
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Maurice Joseph Lawson Turnbull was a Welsh cricketer who played in nine Tests for England from 1930 to 1936. A talented all round sportsman, Turnbull excelled in several sports, in cricket he captained the Cambridge University team in his final year of college and captained the Glamorgan County Cricket Club for ten seasons. In rugby union he repres

1.
Maurice Turnbull

England cricket team
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The England cricket team is the team that represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board, England and Australia were the first teams to play a Test match, and these two countries together with South Africa formed the Imperial Cricket Conference on 15 June 1909.

1.
The first England team to tour Southern Australia

2.
England cricket crest

3.
Bill Woodfull evades a Bodyline ball. Note the number of leg-side fielders.

4.
English cricket team at the Test match held at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground. England won the match by a record margin of 675 runs.

The Oval
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The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth, South London. The Oval has been the ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it was opened in 1845. It was the first ground in England to host international Test cricket in September 1880, the fina

1.
The Oval Pavilion

2.
The clock by the Members' entrance.

3.
Cricket, WG Grace, 1891– Kennington Oval

4.
Surrey v Yorkshire (OCS stand in background)

Australia national cricket team
–
The Australia national cricket team, represents the country of Australia in international cricket. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, having played in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team draws its players from teams playing in the Australian domestic competitions – the Sheffield Shield, the Australian domestic limited-over

1.
The Australian team that toured England in 1878.

2.
Insignia on the baggy green

Herbert Sutcliffe
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Herbert Sutcliffe was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the two world wars and his fame rests mainly in the great opening partnership he formed with Jack Hobbs for England between 1924 and 1930. He also formed

3.
A ball from Bill O'Reilly hits the stumps but the bails are not disturbed and Herbert Sutcliffe is not out. First Test at Sydney, 1932–33.

Alan Kippax
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Alan Falconer Kippax was a cricketer for New South Wales and Australia. A middle-order batsman, he toured England twice, and at level was a prolific scorer. His career was curtailed by the controversial Bodyline tactics employed by England on their 1932–33 tour of Australia and his omission from the 1926 team to tour England caused great controvers

1.
Alan Kippax

2.
Kippax was known for his sartorial elegance

3.
Kippax plays his famed late cut shot against Clarrie Grimmett in a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG.

4.
Kippax (l) signs an autograph.

Bill Woodfull
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William Maldon Bill Woodfull OBE was an Australian cricketer of the 1920s and 1930s. Trained as a schoolteacher, Woodfull was known for his benevolent attitude towards his players, Woodfull was not a flamboyant player, but was known for his calm, unruffled style and his reliability in difficult situations. His opening pairing with fellow Victorian

1.
Woodfull's batting stance

2.
Woodfull's Test career batting performance. The red bars indicate the runs that he scored in an innings, with the blue line indicating the batting average in his last ten innings. The blue dots indicate an innings where he remained not out.

3.
Woodfull (left) walks out to open the batting with Vic Richardson in the final Bodyline Test.

Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji
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Duleepsinhji usually referred to as Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji or K. S. Duleepsinhji was a cricketer who played for England. He was educated at the Rajkumar College, Rajkot, India and Cheltenham College, Gloucestershire, descended from the Jam Sahibs of Nawanagar State, Duleepsinhji was born on the Kathiawar peninsula in present-day Gujarat. His broth

1.
Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji

2.
The photo shows one of Duleepsinhji's routine visits to a village near Junagadh in Saurashtra State to see the condition of living of the local people. He is being given the traditional welcome by the villagers by drum beating and pipe music.

Wally Hammond
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Walter Reginald Wally Hammond was an English Test cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning as a professional, he became an amateur and was appointed captain of England. Primarily a middle-order batsman, Wisden Cricketers Almanack described him in his obituary as one of the four best batsmen in th

1.
Wally Hammond

2.
Lord Harris, who was instrumental in Hammond's being unable to play for Gloucestershire in 1922, in his playing days

3.
Sydney Cricket Ground during a cricket match in the 1930s. Hammond scored many runs at Sydney, and it was a favourite venue of his.

4.
Donald Bradman, the best batsman in the world during most of Hammond's career, who in 1930 broke Hammond's record for most runs in a Test series. Hammond later became obsessed with being more successful than Bradman.

Jack Hobbs
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Sir John Berry Jack Hobbs was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Known as The Master, he is regarded by critics as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket and he is the leading run-scorer and century-maker in first-class cricket, with 61,7

1.
Sir Jack Hobbs

2.
Hobbs regularly practised cricket on Parker's Piece in his youth.

3.
Hobbs (right) opening the batting with Tom Hayward in 1907

4.
Hobbs batting early in his career

Andy Sandham
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Andrew Sandham was an English cricketer, a right-handed batsman who played 14 Test matches between 1921 and 1930. Sandham made the first triple century in Test cricket,325 against the West Indies in 1930, born in Streatham, London, Sandham made his Surrey debut in 1911, and was capped in 1913. He passed 2,000 runs in eight seasons, and during the p

1.
Andy Sandham's career performance graph.

Maurice Leyland
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Maurice Leyland was an English cricketer who played 41 Test matches between 1928 and 1938. In first-class cricket, he represented Yorkshire between 1920 and 1946, scoring over 1,000 runs in 17 consecutive seasons, a left-handed middle-order batsman and occasional left-arm spinner, Leyland was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1929. Born in Harrogat

1.
Maurice Leyland

2.
The death of Roy Kilner left the Yorkshire attack weakened and led to Leyland bowling more frequently.

3.
A team photograph of England's 1932–33 side: Leyland is in the middle of the back row.

Charlie Parker (cricketer)
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Charles Warrington Leonard Charlie Parker was an English cricketer, who stands as the third highest wicket taker in the history of first-class cricket, behind Wilfred Rhodes and Tich Freeman. Parker took no serious attention to cricket in his childhood, preferring to concentrate on golf and he only took to cricket around 1900 and was recommended to

1.
Charlie Parker

Hedley Verity
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Hedley Verity was a professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire and England between 1930 and 1939. A slow left-arm orthodox bowler, he took 1,956 wickets in cricket at an average of 14.90 and 144 wickets in 40 Tests at an average of 24.37. Named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1932, never someone who spun the ball sharply, he ach

4.
Douglas Jardine, Verity's captain in Australia and India, was an admirer of Verity.

Harold Larwood
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Harold Larwood was a professional cricketer for Nottinghamshire and England between 1924 and 1938. A right-arm fast bowler who combined unusual speed with great accuracy and he made his Test debut in 1926, in only his second season in first-class cricket, and was a member of the 1928–29 touring side that retained the Ashes in Australia. The advent

1.
Harold Larwood

2.
Trent Bridge cricket ground (2007 photograph). The main pavilion appears much as it did in Larwood's day.

3.
The entrance to the pavilion at the Oval, the ground where Larwood helped England to regain the Ashes in 1926

4.
Chapman (centre) leads the England team on to the field during the Brisbane Test

International Standard Book Number
–
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning

1.
A 13-digit ISBN, 978-3-16-148410-0, as represented by an EAN-13 bar code

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
–
Wisden Cricketers Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. It is considered the worlds most famous reference book. The description bible of cricket was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a review for the London Mercury, in October 2013, an all-time Test World XI was announced to mark the 150th anniversary

1.
1864 Wisden Front Cover (owned by http://www.wisdens.org)

2.
Wisden 1878 edition

3.
Sydney Pardon; editor from 1891 to 1925

Irving Rosenwater
–
Irving Rosenwater was an English cricket researcher and author whose best-known work was Sir Donald Bradman - A Biography. Born in the East End of London to a Polish father, Rosenwater initially had two birth certificates, the first registered him as Isidore, but his parents had second thoughts and promptly changed it. In 1970, Rosenwater became th

1.
Irving Rosenwater

Underarm bowling
–
In cricket, underarm bowling is as old as the sport itself. Until the introduction of the style in the first half of the 19th century, bowling was performed in the same way as in bowls. For centuries, bowling was performed exactly as in bowls because the ball was rolled or skimmed along the ground. The bowlers may have used variations in pace but t

History of cricket to 1725
–
The earliest definite reference to cricket is dated Monday,17 January 1597. Derricks testimony makes clear that the sport was being played c.1550, All that can be said with a fair degree of certainty is that its beginning was earlier than 1550, somewhere in south-east England within the counties of Kent, Sussex and Surrey. Therefore, forest clearin

1.
Edward II (depicted in Cassell's History of England) played creag in his youth.

2.
The Royal Grammar School in Guildford where John Derrick was a pupil when he and his friends played "creckett" circa 1550.

3.
John Churchill as a young man. He played cricket at school in the 1660s.

4.
The cricket bat of the 1720s was shaped like a modern hockey stick so that it could address a ball that was not pitched.

1729 English cricket season
–
The 1729 cricket season was the 132nd in England since the earliest known definite reference to cricket in January 1597. Details have survived of seven important matches, the earliest known innings victory is believed to have happened in 1729 and the earliest known surviving cricket bat dates from the season. The earliest known reference to cricket

1.
The oldest cricket bat still in existence dates from 1729. Note the shape, which is more like that of a modern-day hockey stick than a modern-day cricket bat. It is kept in the Sandham Room in the Member's Pavilion at the Oval